Dickson Co. law enforcement receives $240K in grants

The state Safety and Homeland Security Director announced recently at Dickson City Hall that Dickson County law enforcement agencies would receive $240,000 toward overtime and prosecutor pay to to reduce road fatalities.
Chris Gadd/The Herald

Department of Safety and Homeland Security Commissioner David Purkey was joined by Vic Donoho, director of the Tennessee Highway Safety Office, at Dickson City Hall last week to announce grants awarded for officer overtime and prosecutor pay.
Joining them were department staff as well as Sheriff Jeff Bledsoe, Chief Deputy Jerone Holt, City Administrator Rydell Wesson, Dickson Police Chief Jeff Lewis and Burns Police Chief William Burgess.(Photo: Chris Gadd/The Herald)

The state Safety and Homeland Security Director announced recently at Dickson City Hall that Dickson County law enforcement agencies would receive $240,000 toward overtime and prosecutor pay to help regulate DUIs, distracted driving, speeding and seatbelt usage.

State Department of Safety and Homeland Security Commissioner David Purkey was joined by Vic Donoho, director of the Tennessee Highway Safety Office, in Dickson on Aug. 30 as one part of a four-city, statewide tour Wednesday to announce $19 million in federal grants for programs to reduce road fatalities.

The other stops were in Dandridge, Dyersburg and Crossville to tout the 400 grants from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

Local agencies received funds for overtime to help enforce motor vehicle laws that, if broken, “we know are killers,” said Donoho. The agencies and amounts are:

Burns Police - $3,000

Dickson County Sheriff’s Office - Almost $30,000

Dickson Police Department - $15,000

District Attorney General for the 23rd Judicial District - $187,000 (DUI prosecutors and support personnel)

White Bluff - Almost $5,000

Purkey said the overtime money will allow more patrolling of the highways “to keep our fatalities low.”

“For the county as whole, this is good, directed, targeted money,” Purkey said. “These awards are substantial amounts from the program. We make these awards knowing they will be spent well.”

Purkey added that Dickson was one of the four cities chosen for a reason — leadership.

“When you have people like (Dickson County Sheriff Jeff Bledsoe) and (Dickson Police Chief Jeff Lewis),” Purkey said. “This county and city has put good people in charge. We love to work with them. There are no problems. They do it the right way.”

Bledsoe said the data shows Dickson County still has “a lot of work to do” in the four targeted areas. He said the funds would be put to “maximum use.” The sheriff also pointed out his appreciation of the funding for prosecutors.

“The people that commit these crimes need to be held accountable,” Bledsoe said. “We are going to do our best to secure those cases for the maximum prosecution.”

The Tennessee Highway Safety Office serves as the application pass-through to the federal agency disbursing the funds.

In addition to the local funds, the agency leaders announced that $9 million in grants were awarded to agencies in Middle Tennessee. In Dandridge, officials announced $5 million in grants to agencies in East Tennessee. Officials revealed $2 million in grants for West Tennessee agencies during the Dyersburg stop. Authorities during the Crossville news conference were to share that $3 million in federal grants were to be funneled to organizations in the Cumberland region.

The list of the total 400 approved grants statewide would be "released within the next couple of weeks,” according to a spokesperson.